Darren's Introductory Rambling

Hello, I'm Darren Seacliffe.

Lend me your ears for a few minutes. Allow me to introduce myself with the aid of this video first of all:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTFu1s1LOeA

No,I'm not singing in this video. I don't know anyone singing in this video, personally, that is.

This video's a pot-pourri, a minute or half of each of the musical numbers of this work, a light opera or operetta called Die Geschiedene Frau, by a German composer called Leo Fall.

For starters, this video seems to be an opera. How come? There are singers singing in a language that you and me most probably don't understand in a way that's very different from what we are used to listening around us. Let's see if I can figure out why you think so:

1. The singers are singing at a pitch that's much higher than what most of us normally listen to or rather are accustomed to.

2. The singers are singing in a way that reminds you of that fat bearded man who recently passed away that sings something we can't understand but we find nice to listen to for some strange reason.

Well,you might be asking me why I'm using this video as an introduction..Let's just say that I'm an opera fan. This video's a way of showing that I'm not the typical opera fan. This opera isn't something which the typical mainstream opera fan listens to. It's also something which you'll be extremely unlikely to find in the ordinary opera house anywhere in the world.

This is a light opera. It's opera in the sense that it's a musical, a play where people are singing musical numbers that tell a story as they are sung in sequence, with music that tends to have quite a strong classical element in it. It's light in the sense that the music, even though it might be classical, has melodies that are easier to remember, unravel themselves faster and charm people upon first listening. Music that seems much lighter compared to the formidable wall of music one's overwhelmed with when one hears a full 60 man orchestra playing away.

Why listen to a musical-like opera? Why not, listen to a musical, you may ask? The reason is because I'm not only an opera fan, but I'm also a history buff. The kind who likes old things much more than new things. I'm not the sort who'd trade the comforts of my home for a cold damp castle that breaks down if it's not under constant maintenance. I'm the sort whose attention is captured by old things much more than new things, the sort who flies down to old things like a bee to flowers. As a history buff, I tend to read history most of the time. My preferences are for ancient Greek and Roman history, European history from 1453 to 1914 and Chinese, Islamic and Indian history. I'm okay with the rest but let's just say that the former areas draw more of my interest.

Well,enough about me. Just sit back and listen to the video one more time after reading this. This type of thing's something which one which needs to listen to more than once for one to be able to appreciate.

Someday, I'll probably be posting similar entries in future. Entries discussing or publicising the two things I'm most passionate about: classical music and opera, history. There'll also be some other entries in which I reflect on the life around me, talk about myself and so on.

Your rambler:
Darren